A Full Circle
by walkingacrossthesand
Summary: With the offer of a new opportunity that could be potentially life changing, is Ty and Amy's relationship strong enough to survive? Or will they have to sacrifice what they have for the greater good? (Set after Amy's accident in Season 7) Please read and rate! Chapter 8 now up!
1. Chapter 1

Standing in the doorway of the barn, Amy breathed in and out, watching it float up into the dark sky. It was almost four in the morning, yet the sky showed no signs of daylight. However, the five inches of snow which hugged the ground seemed to illuminate the landscape and sky somehow, resulting in the purple coloured sky that Amy now was gazing at.

The noise of Spartan snorting cut short Amy's daydream, reminding her of the task in hand. "Come on then." She said softly as she unbolted Spartan's stable door and allowed the jet black horse into the barn aisle.

As Spartan walked past her, Amy got hold of his reins and walked along with him at his shoulder. The noise of his hooves echoing turned into the crunch of snow as they ventured over the barn's threshold, muting the risk of waking up someone in the farmhouse.

The harsh December weather bit at Amy's cheeks as she swiftly mounted Spartan and gathered her reins with gloved hands. With the click of her tongue and a slight squeeze, they set off into the night, following the path of hoof prints already imprinted into the freshly laid snow.

Fifteen minutes later, Amy and Spartan were at the edge of the pasture where the cattle were grazing for the winter. Pasture was well sheltered from the elements, precisely the reason why Jack, Amy's Grandpa, and Tim, Amy's father, had chosen the location. Just a couple of meters away, Amy could make out the silhouette of the horse she had been seeking.

Carefully, Amy edged Spartan on, until they were only a couple of metres away. After dismounting, Amy tied Spartan to a fence pole and unclipped the headcollar and leadrope off the saddle.

The horse that she was looking for was a beautiful grey, who was named Theo and had had arrived at Heartland earlier that day.

His owner had recently rehomed Theo from a neighbour, hoping that he'd be the perfect hacking horse for her. She'd seen him out and about therefore, she was certain that he'd be a straight forward horse.

During the day Theo would behave perfectly, happily plodding around with Kathy, his owner, around the trails and grazing whilst being turned out. However, every night he'd grow restless and escape from his stable and go out onto the trails.

Kathy had tried letting him live out, however, Theo had jumped the fence during the night. Keen to find out anything about Theo's past, Kathy tried to get back in touch with his old owner with no success; they'd sold their farm and moved away.

Desperately Kathy was trying to find a solution, however, one night Theo escaped again, this time hurting his leg. Therefore, she decided to send Theo to Heartland, in the hope that Amy could help him.

"Theo" gently Amy called, holding out her hand for the grey gelding to sniff. Slowly, Amy slipped the headcollar over the grey's muzzle and fastened it before attaching the leadrope. "There good boy," Amy said, patting Theo's neck and leading him back towards Spartan.

Spartan nickered at Theo, leaning down and gently touching noses as Amy mounted Spartan. "Come on then guys, I want to get back to bed." Amy squeezed Spartan and they set off back towards Heartland.

Clicking her tongue, Amy ran her hand down the back of Theo's leg and supported it as the horse obediently lifted his hoof up. Gently Amy felt for heat and was relieved when she found none. She quickly untied Theo and put him back into his stable, ensuring that the bolt was done securely. After glancing at her watch, Amy realised that she'd have to be up again in a matter of hours.

As quick as possible, Amy went from the barn to the farmhouse. Following the footpath her Grandfather, Jack, had already dug out of the snow. After making sure that the gate was shut quietly, Amy gently opened the farm house door and was hit by warm air. She slipped off her shoes and placed them near the radiator before heading upstairs.

On passing the living room, Amy saw Lobo and Remi laid by the crackling fire asleep. Usually they'd sleep upstairs, at the foot of Amy or Georgie's bed however, the warm fire had been too tempting for them last night.

Turning the door handle slowly, Amy tiptoed inside her room and shut the door cautiously, the door just clicking as it reached the door frame. "Amy?"

His voice was still croaky from sleep, his hair was ruffled and his eyes heavy with sleep. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up." She whispered before taking off her jumper and folding it up.

Ty opened his eyes and glanced at the clock on the bedside table and frowned. Amy peeled back the duvet and got into bed. Ty shivered slightly as her arm touched his "God you're freezing, where've you been?"

"One of the horses got out, but he's okay now." She replied, shivering slightly as Ty wrapped his arms around her. "You're okay though?" Ty whispered into her ear. Amy rolled her eyes in the darkness, "yeah."

Ever since her accident a year ago, Ty had been extremely protective over Amy, or as Amy believed overprotective.

After being paid a large amount of money, Amy had committed herself to work with Zeus, a beautiful dapple grey stallion who belonged to a prince. Amy had worked with the Prince before, helping him form a healthy relationship between him and his show jumping stallion Emir. One night during a thunder storm Amy had received a phone call asking her to go over to Hill Hurst, where the horses were stabled to calm the horses.

When she arrived there however, the power had been cut out and the horses had been set loose. Emir and Zeus, the two stallions, were fighting with each other in the middle of the barn. Rearing up, biting, kicking and squealing at each other, it was a horrendous sight. Amy desperately tried to separate them, not thinking of the implications upon her own safety. That was when one of the horses struck Amy in the head with a hoof, knocking her to the floor and into a coma. Throughout her stay in hospital there were worries regarding Amy's eyesight. The part of the brain which had been knocked related to her eyesight and on first examination, Amy hadn't been reacting to light.

However, gradually Amy began to regain consciousness. It turned out that Amy had a blind spot in her left eye as a result of the accident. Amy was discharged and she was grateful to return to Heartland, hoping to get back to normality.

However, suddenly everything in Amy's life had changed, instead of being revolved around Heartland and her marriage to Ty. Amy's life revolved around the hospital, treatment and getting looked after. It felt her life was collapsing around her, like dominos, knocked over by her accident.

It was only a couple of months ago that Amy started taking on clients again. At first Ty constantly kept an eye on her, not leaving her alone for one moment and it grew incredibly tiresome. Eventually however, Amy convinced him to go back to work and complete the final year of university.

"I can defer for a year you know, I don't have to do this." Ty said leaning through the window of his truck. Autumn leaves blustered around Amy's feet as she tried to reassure him that she would be okay.

"Ty, we spoke about this. I don't need babysitting." Amy said angrily, suddenly realising that she was showing her anger, she adjusted her tone. "Now go! Or you'll be late for your lecture!"

Amy stepped back from the truck and wrapped her arms around herself. She realised that it was hard letting someone go after they suffered an accident. She'd experienced this after desperately trying to convince him not to ride his motorbike after his accident. Amy knew that it was important to give someone freedom however, and it felt like it was taking Ty a monumental amount of time to realise this. Hopefully as he began university again, he would dilute his concern.

Breaking out of the memory, Amy realised she had been laid in bed staring at her dress hung on the wardrobe door. The dress was emerald green and still had the price tags left on after she'd purchased it the other day.

Tomorrow night Amy was going to watch Ty finally graduate as a fully qualified vet, and she couldn't be prouder. Ty was finally taking grasp of his dreams. Scott had offered Ty partnership in his local business just in town. He and Amy would then be able to move towards buying their own ranch around Hudson, both heading to exactly what they wanted.

With the thoughts of their future echoing within her dreams, Amy closed her eyes and drifted off into the final few hours of her sleep.

"Grandpa? Grandpa do you want a cup of coffee? Now I got some other types of coffee to try for Maggie's so let me know what you think…" Amy could hear Lou rattle around the kitchen, clattering pots around.

"Now Lou" Jack grumbled into life, his voice gravelly and familiar, "I just want my own coffee. Coffee, made out of my coffee machine."

"Grandpa please just try it and tell me what you think." Amy walked into the kitchen to find Lou presenting Jack with a small espresso cup. The air was filled with the smell of coffee and orange.

"Lou" Jack pulled his eyebrows together as he sniffed the small mug, comically holding it in his huge hands. Gingerly he took a sip with Lou watching over him anxiously. "So…?" In her hands she had her notepad and pen at the ready. "I don't know, it tastes like orange" Jack said, setting down the cup.

"Smells like orange too." Amy said as she entered the kitchen with a grin. Jack smiled a little and Lou rolled her eyes, "well thanks you two, you've really helped me. I'm going to give Peter a cup." Lou said huffily.

Laughing quietly, Amy went over to the kitchen counter and took a muffin. Still warm, Lou had brought some back from Maggie's, the diner she owned in Hudson.

Holding her muffin, Amy began to fiddle with the old coffee machine. "Do you want a normal coffee Grandpa?" Amy asked Jack, turning around to see the old man finishing off the coffee that Lou had given him. "Actually, that one was… Alright." Shaking her head Amy smiled again.

Waiting for the coffee machine to brew, Amy stared out of the kitchen window and into the yard. The morning sunlight was streaming through gaps in the clouds, highlighting the barn and the round pen almost magically. Her footprints in the snow had vanished, covered up by the new snow that had fallen in the couple of hours Amy had gone back to sleep.

Taking a bite into the muffin, Amy's taste buds were hit by the overpowering taste of cinnamon, and it made her feel sick. Grabbing a piece of kitchen roll, Amy subtly spat out the remaining amount of muffin into it.

"Not good?" Jack asked, watching Amy spit out her muffin and glancing at his own that Lou had given him with his coffee. "Too much cinnamon" Amy said, pouring the freshly brewed coffee into her mug and heading outside.

Setting down her coffee on the top of the mounting block, Amy was greeted by a chorus of whinnies and heads popping over the tops of stable doors, all apart from Theo's.

After feeding the rest of the horses, Amy went to Theo's stable and found the grey horse stood with his hind end towards the stable door, looking out of the window at the back of his stable. "Theo" Amy gently called, not wanting to spook him. Theo just flicked his ear back and listened, not even bothering to turn his head. She clicked her tongue and shook the feed bucket, no response. Sighing, Amy simply hooked the feed bucket into his stable and tied the haynet in there.

"You look tired." Caleb commented as he stood at the door of the tackroom, grinning from ear to ear like an idiot. "Thanks, you always know how to make someone feel great." Amy replied jokingly. "Ty been snoring again?" Caleb replied, just as quick. "Nope, the new gelding, Theo, he escaped last night... Well it was this morning." Caleb's face scrunched up and he wandered over to Amy's desk and slammed into the chair opposite, "any ideas why?" Taking the final sip of her coffee, Amy shook her head. "No, no ideas at all." Frowning Caleb looked deep in thought. "I think we should see what his personality is like. Fancy a ride out?" Amy asked, turning off her computer and standing up.

Grabbing a grooming kit, Amy stood outside Theo's stable to find Theo stood aimlessly chewing away at the remainder of his haynet, nearly two hours after he'd been given it. Amy opened his stable door and ran her hand down his neck, selected a body brush and began to groom him. Theo didn't move a muscle or react in any way. "Hey Amy, could you help me to bring in Swift?" Caleb asked, holding Swift's rope headcollar.

Swift was Caleb's new roping horse project for his business, but Amy had a sneaking suspicion, Swift was growing on him. He was a red roan with a beautiful black mane and tail. When Caleb had spotted Swift at the sales, he recognised speed and agility as the young horse moved around the sale pen. Swift had been cantering around the pen, easily weaving in and out of the sale assistants that were desperately trying to get him back into the pens after no one had made any bids on him. Caleb quickly made his way to the manager and bought Swift for a pittance.

The young horse was very underweight and was quite feral despite being broken in, therefore, Caleb brought him to Heartland so Amy could work with him and build up his confidence.

Swift had gained lots of positive experiences after completing groundwork and going right back to basics with Amy, and was now slowly enjoying being ridden. Now their biggest struggle was overcoming his fear or inability of being stabled. Over the summer Swift had been living out and that was fine until the bad weather and winter had hit Heartland. Now Swift really needed to be stabled to keep on top of his condition and so he wouldn't be hindered by it in the future. Amy and Caleb however, thought it was best that Swift was gently eased into barn life. At the moment he was just being brought into the barn to be groomed, tacked up and fed. Amy felt like a large proportion of Swift's problem was to do with his excessive energy levels; therefore, she and Caleb were trying to give the barn positive and exciting associations with the barn.

To ensure that Swift would behave the same with other people apart from Caleb, they were getting as many people as possible to handle him, hence the reason why Amy was bringing him in.

"Sure, are we bringing in Shorty too?" Amy scooped up the grooming kit and exited Theo's stable. "Yeah, I'll just grab his headcollar."

Shorty and Swift were in the turnout paddocks just to the side of the barn. Both horses were stood outside the field shelter at the end of the pasture, leaning into it and eating their haynets.

As soon as Shorty saw Caleb, the grey horse trotted over to the gate, still chewing some hay in his mouth. "Hey boy" Caleb slid opened the bolt of the gate and scratched the horse's neck. Unlike Swift, Shorty was suited to living outside. The cowpony had an incredibly thick coat, suited to keeping the elements at bay. He was also in impeccable shape, working with Caleb nearly every day meant that he'd built muscles and stamina. Amy had ever seen a horse more suited to work, even as Shorty got older, he still remained incredibly capable.

Realising that Shorty had left him, Swift leaped into life. Springing into a canter towards them made Amy's heart stop, she was terrified the young horse's gangly legs would get tangled somehow or trip. However, he defied Amy's worries and stopped at Shorty's shoulder, greeting Amy with a shove of his nose. "Your happy today" Amy said smiling as Swift bent down and slipped his head into the nose of the headcollar.

He was unrecognisable to the horse that had arrived earlier that year. For the first few weeks Caleb and Amy struggled to prise Swift from the fields, now he was voluntarily coming in.

Both horses walked alongside each other back into the barn. Spartan and Harley looked over their stable doors and nickered as Shorty and Swift entered.

Amy put Swift into the end stable closest to the door, this would then allow Swift to look outside and watch the activity on the yard. Caleb had also put a hay net in the stable ready for Swift to go into. Amy left Caleb to groom Swift and went back to grooming Theo.

Theo was easy to tack up, some horses threw their heads up at taking the bit but Theo simply opened his mouth and took it. This suggested to Amy that Theo enjoyed doing work; she just had to find out what type of work he enjoyed.

Whilst Caleb was getting Swift ready, Amy decided to take Theo into the round pen. Like a statue, Theo stood in the centre of the round pen as Amy mounted, however, once she sat down in the saddle, Theo immediately started walking. As he walked, Theo lacked energy, if he had been human Theo would've been dragging his heels in the snow as he walked. Thinking that he might be bored, Amy began to do formations around the round pen. Alternating between serpentines, figures of eight and small circles as she tried to get him warmed up, Theo still lacked lustre.

Once he was fully warmed up Amy decided to try trotting Theo. It took a couple of aids for Theo to break into a trot but gradually, the cowpony shuffled into an incredibly lethargic one. "Amy!"

Wearing his thick winter coat, Ty strode across the yard towards the round pen. His hair was still slightly ruffled at the bottom from the way he towel dried his hair after getting out of the shower.

"Hey" Amy stopped Theo at the side of the round pen and smiled at Ty who climbed up the big wooden bars. "Discovered anything about the mysterious Theo?" Ty asked, glancing at Theo, who still seemed to have a blank expression. "Nope, me and Caleb are going on a trail ride now though so hopefully something will come up." Ty's face seemed to drop slightly. "Well, I could get Harley and come out with you guys?" Internally Amy cringed.

After some thinking of how to deter Ty, Amy finally came up with "Harley's turned out with Spartan; I'll be fine with Caleb honestly. Anyway aren't you going into town? Getting some beers for tonight?"

Amy could tell that Ty was lightly taken aback. Slowly Ty began to nod, "yeah. Right, well you be careful and I won't be long okay?"

In reply, Amy simply nodded, feeling slightly guilty at turning Ty away. Pulling out from his pocket his keys, Ty stepped back and waved at Amy before heading over to his truck.

Even though he'd been out in the field, Swift was still full of energy, jogging down Heartland's drive way towards the trails. Each time that Swift broke into a trot, Caleb would ease him back down into a walk by doing a small circle before joining Theo and Amy again.

"He just can't contain himself can he?" Amy said laughing at Swift who was excitedly walking at Theo's shoulder after being made to do yet another circle. "At least he's cheered up a bit." Caleb said, looking down at Theo who was now walking forwards energetically with pricked ears and was being incredibly receptive to Amy's aids.

"What type of work does Theo do then?" Caleb asked as they left the driveway and down through the woods. "Happy hacker apparently, she's not sure what he did before. So far it seems that he'd be quite happy doing just that." Amy said looking down at a contented Theo.

The woods got thicker and thicker, each branch balanced a small amount of snow on top which cascaded to the floor at the slightest touch, landing partly on the horses' heads.

"What time do we have to be there tonight?" Caleb asked, referring to Ty's graduation that evening. "Come to Heartland for six and we'll work out who's going with who in what car and everything. Ty has to get there early." Caleb nodded before sighing as Swift decided to break into trot. Once again Caleb had to turn Swift into a circle, breaking the conversation.

"Do you reckon I'll look alright Ams? I mean Ash said that I should've cut my hair…" A worried looking Caleb asked as he brought Swift back down to a walk.

Laughing, Amy smiled "you'll look lovely I'm sure! Just remember to comb your hair and you'll be fine." Caleb blushed slightly and grinned widely.

"It's going to be so weird knowing that once Ty gets up on that stage he's a vet." Caleb said, scrunching up his face and smiling.

"I know, I'm so proud of him… Fancy letting these guys go for a trot?" Amy asked smiling, Gathering his reins, Caleb gave Swift the slightest aid. Instantly Swift bounced off into a beautiful, yet fast trot. "I'm already ahead of you!" Caleb shouted as Amy smiled, gathered Theo's reins and started trotting after them.

Both horses seemed to be really enjoying themselves until, they tried to turn off and go down to the clearing for a canter back to Heartland. However, mid-trot Theo suddenly stopped, planting both feet in the ground nearly causing Amy to be thrown off, luckily she managed to stay on by grabbing the pommel of the saddle.

"Whoa, where did that come from?!" Caleb exclaimed as he headed back towards Amy and Theo. "I literally have no idea" Amy said frowning and squeezing Theo onwards. Theo however, refused to move. So Amy turned Theo into a circle and tried to direct him down the trail again, Theo responded with a bolt down the opposite trail. The quick turn took Amy by surprise, she desperately tried to keep her seat and slow Theo down, "whoa Theo, whoa" Amy desperately tried to keep a calm tone. The pace that Theo set off with however, meant that the snow gave away, causing him to slip and Amy to loose her balance.

Theo continued to bolt as Amy hit the snowy forest floor. Caleb winced as he saw her body jerk; he prayed she hadn't hit her head. "Amy!" He shouted and jumped down from Swift's saddle, "you okay?"

Amy groaned and her eyes fluttered open, "I'm alright." Caleb stood up and offered his hand to Amy to help her up. As she rose from the ground, Caleb could see a red mark on Amy's cheek where she had hit the ground. "Where did Theo go? He didn't fall did he?" Amy simply rubbed her cheek and winced before standing on her tiptoes.

"No, just cantered off down there." Caleb said, watching Amy clutch her ribs as she moved towards Swift. "Right let's go and get him then."

"Amy, do you really think that's wise?" Caleb uttered, stopping Amy dead in her tracks. "I'll be fine, I'm sick of everyone treating me like a pot doll." Amy said sharply before realising who she was speaking to. "Now let's get Theo eh?"

"People just care you know Amy?" Caleb said, breaking the silence that had descended between the pair once they had found Theo. "I know." She said solemnly.

Theo hadn't wandered far, they'd found him just near the pastures, stood watching. Theo seemed relatively unscathed, unlike Amy who could already feel the bruise forming along her ribs and face.

"This isn't like you." Caleb said bluntly, halting Swift and staring blatantly at Amy.

Hiding her worries and problems from her family had been at the forefront of Amy's mind. So far she felt that she'd been successful however, Caleb had always known Amy too well. "What do you mean?" She replied quietly after a pause.

Caleb simply raised his eyebrows and continued to stare at her. "I'm not stupid."

"I feel like I'm constantly being wrapped in cotton wool, and it's smothering me. I can't do anything anymore without being told to 'be careful' and 'watch out'." The floodgates of Amy's worries burst open and immediately began to pour out. "I know it's because he cares but I'm meant to do this! It's my life! I can't imagine doing anything else and being told to stop working with horses would kill me."

Caleb took in all the information before frowning and picking up on one aspect of Amy's explanation, "He?"

"Ty" Amy said in one sad and sorry sigh.

Taking a moment to think, Caleb replied constructively, "Have you tried telling him?"

Amy nodded, "I love him so much" Amy's eyes filled with tears "but I have this terrible feeling that it's just going to hold us back. I don't know what to do..."

"Hey, hey, look you love each other, surely that's enough…"

"It might be too much… Look Caleb, please don't tell Ty about me falling off or what we've just said. I just want him to enjoy himself tonight."

Once they returned to Heartland, Theo seemed to go back into being a moody and reluctant horse. He was dragging his feet, turning his ears backwards and slouching as he was led towards the fields.

Swift on the other hand, was still bouncing. He was happily jogging along at Caleb's side, having to be stopped occasionally due to his bolshie nature taking over. Amy suspected that it was due to the fact that he could see his friends in the fields.

Spartan, Harley, Shorty, Pogi and a few others were stood around the hay trough munching away, occasionally chasing each other around.

Just as Amy and Caleb opened the field gate and with the horses beside them, a large bang sounded from the yard, Amy suspected that it was Grandpa's truck backfiring again. This caused some of the horses to spook. Their bodies instantly tensed up, they arched their necks and their hooves seemed to scoop up at the ground as they bolted around the field.

Swift, who had already been hyperactive despite the fact that he'd just been exercised, instantly picked up on the other horses bolting and began to rear up. The young horse was incredibly strong and began to throw Caleb around. "Whoa Swift, whoa" maintaining a calm exterior but, Amy could see the strain in his face.

Theo, luckily didn't really react really, he simply stepped out of the way of Swift and pricked his ears. It was as if all the action was beneath him.

Swift on the other hand, had now worked himself up into a frenzy and was leaping about, rearing and bucking. Suddenly all the horses in the field bolted to the far end of the field. "Whoa!" Amy tried to reach out to Swift, however, her hand touched air as the gelding bolted, ripping the leadrope from Caleb's hands. "Bloody hell Swift!" Caleb muttered under his breath as Swift galloped across the field bucking as he went, the leadrope flailing around in the air.

"Will he be alright with that leadrope?" Caleb asked, as he examined his hand.

"There's no chance of catching him now, if he pulls on it that much it'll snap off." Amy said, pulling the gate shut with one hand and holding onto Theo with the other.

"I hope he doesn't go lame" Caleb said, joining Amy at the gate. His hand was cut and was beginning to bleed. The horses slowly settled down into a trot before wandering around with each other.

"He'll be fine, let me turn Theo out and we'll get your hand sorted out." Amy said, slowly opening the gate and letting Theo wander in. "Now let's get that hand sorted out."

After cleaning Caleb's hand up, Amy started on bedding down the stables, which had been mucked out earlier and left up for the floors to dry. Caleb headed out to help Lou with something over at the Dude Ranch.

With the yard empty and a calm atmosphere resumed, Amy decided to ride Jasmine.

Jasmine was a beautiful piebald Gypsy Vanner, who was extremely well known in the showing circuit. Her owner however, had been having problems with the mare in the warm up ring.

In the show ring Jasmine was incredibly confident and successful, however, in the warm up ring she was the exact opposite. The mare often bolted, spooked and didn't listen to the aids given by her rider. Amy had an idea that Jasmine was simply scared or anxious being in such an enclosed environment with so many horses.

For the past week that Amy had been working with Jasmine, Amy was simply riding Jasmine in a simple warm up sequence.

Gathering hold of her reins, Amy set the mare off on a walk around the round pen twice on both reins. Jasmine was drastically different compared to Theo. The mare was forward going and simply needed a click of the tongue.

With another click, Jasmine sprung into a beautiful trot. Her paces were amazing and she naturally arched her legs as she moved. Feather streamed out behind her, making her look as if she was floating.

"Wow" Georgie stood on the fence of the round pen and gawped at Jasmine, "she's so pretty."

Georgie was the adopted daughter of Lou and Peter. She was an amazingly talented rider and was currently working towards competing in various competitions and improving her trick riding.

"She is isn't she?" Amy said smiling. She noticed that Georgie was holding her riding hat at her side and suddenly remembered that she'd promised to help Georgie with Phoenix. Trying to disguise her surprise at forgetting, Amy side tracked Georgie with, "do you want to go and get Phoenix ready Georgie? I'll just cool Jasmine down."

"I wanted to jump Amy!" Georgie sulked as Amy laid out ground poles around the school in a formation. Georgie led Phoenix into the centre of the school as Amy

"You can't jump Phoenix all the time Georgie, he'll get bored and hurt himself. This will help you with speed, agility and ultimately could result in you getting first place."

Sighing Georgie gathered her reins. "Right so trot him over the poles Georgie." Amy said as she raised the ground poles with little cones, making them about fifteen centimetres off the floor.

As Georgie began to lead Phoenix out onto the track, Lou came over to the side of the round pen and leaned on the fence. "Looking good Georgie" Lou commented as her adopted daughter rode past her. Amy wandered over to the fence and clambered up it to sit. "Why don't you go and get ready for tonight?" Lou asked Amy.

"I promised Georgie I'd help her with Phoenix" Amy said, watching Georgie complete another circuit of the round pen.

"I can watch her." Lou said, leaning through the bars "it's Ty's big night Amy and you don't want to be rushed getting ready. Go on, I'll even do the night feeds." Lou smiled at Amy and winked.

"Are you sure?" Amy asked hesitantly.

"Go and get a bath." Lou said folding her arms and smiling. Amy sighed and swung her legs over the fence of the round pen and jumped down, "thanks Lou."

Amy sat down at her dressing table, wrapped in a white fluffy towel with her wet hair still dripping down her back. She looked past her mirror and through a gap in the curtains. Outside had descended into complete darkness, the lights around the yard had come on and Amy could see Georgie cantering Phoenix over the poles. Flutters of snow were beginning to fall from the sky and land upon the snow that was already there.

"Daydreaming?" Amy turned around to see Ty stood behind her holding a suit bag. His hair had speckles of water droplets from snowflakes that had melted. "Hey" Amy whispered smiling, her earlier resentment towards Ty seemed to melt away, much like the snowflakes.

Removing his damp jacket, caused by the snowfall outside, Ty sat down on the bed just behind Amy's right shoulder. "I was thinking, we should go out after Graduation for a meal or something to celebrate. Just us" Ty said, his eyes glistening with a smile. "That sounds great." Amy said smiling. Standing up Ty kissed Amy on the lips, his hand gently held onto her bare shoulder.


	2. Chapter 2

"Stand up straight Grandpa! Georgie try and smile… Bigger, come on! Smile for me Katie, good girl! That's it." Lou stepped back from the group, picked up her camera and took the picture.

"Right let me get in one, Peter?" Lou handed the camera to Peter and struck a pose next to Amy. Mentally, Amy laughed at Lou, quickly working her angles.

The flash was still ringing in Amy's eyes as Jack made a beeline for the safety of his arm chair. "Hey, hey, don't sit down and crease your suit Grandpa!" Lou squealed just as the old man hit the chair.

"We best get going" Ty said, placing his hand on the nape of Amy's back, "don't want to be late." Amy could tell Ty was nervous by the tone of his voice and the way he kept tapping his foot.

"Where is dad?!" Lou asked, furiously tapping on her mobile. "Look you guys set off, we'll wait for Dad."

"Good luck Ty, we're really proud of you." Jack stepped forwards and shook Ty's hand firmly whilst smiling.

"So proud, honestly" Lou followed, hugging Ty.

Stepping back, Amy smiled at the exchanges in front of her. Everyone seemed to share the pride that she felt for Ty's achievement and it made her so happy.

"Can I see your tickets please?" An older woman dressed in graduation robes stopped Amy at the front door of the Great Hall, where Ty's graduation ceremony was taking place.

Ty had disappeared off to the front of the hall to join all the other robed students, anxiously preparing themselves as to how they'd accept their degree. Ty had repeatedly quizzed Amy on whether he should smile with his teeth, whether he should hold up his graduation gown if it was too long, what the likelihood was that his graduation gown may be too long or too short, whether a shorter gown would be worse… The list went on and on.

"Right you're sat right in the middle, may I ask who you've came for?" The woman asked, after quickly scanning the ticket and beginning to walk down the aisle that broke up the endless rows of excited friends and family.

"Ty Borden" Amy replied, smiling at the grin that instantly grew on the older woman's face.

"I taught Ty right the way through his degree, I'm Doctor Joyce Read? He's an incredibly bright student, very promising career I suspect." Doctor Joyce gushed praise for Amy's husband as they hurried across to her seat.

"I'm really proud of him." Amy smiled, matching her pace.

"I bet you are! I'm guessing you're his girlfriend?"

"Wife actually" Amy nervously corrected.

Doctor Joyce's smile seemed to tone down slightly before raising back up, "that's lovely dear. I'm guessing you're excited for where this could lead you both! What an exciting adventure to be embarking upon…" Suddenly Doctor Joyce stopped and examined a small sign attached to a seat. "Righto well dear, here's your seat. Pretty good one I must say, especially for photographs!"

"Thank you" Amy said sitting down and looking around the huge room. The Graduation was taking place in one of the universities great halls. Looking up the ceilings were so high with carvings around the archways oozing history and culture. On the stage, a slide show of images was rolling; frequently Amy spotted Ty's face and smiled.

"Hey" Caleb sat down next to Amy and took off his suit jacket before smiling at Amy, "big place huh?"

"Sure is, you look smart." Amy complimented Caleb. He was wearing a pair of blue suit trousers with a shirt and a brown leather jacket.

"I don't look scruffy? These places make me nervous" Caleb tugged on his collar and examined the room again.

Placing her hand on Caleb's forearm, Amy shook her head and smiled. "You look lovely, honestly."

"Is he nervous? I" Caleb asked, peering over the heads of the huge crowd to try and spot Ty amongst the graduates, sat just at the front of the hall.

"I definitely would be…" Amy began to reply but, she was distracted by someone shouting her name,

"Amy!" Georgie's head peered out of the crowd of people that had gathered in the aisle before hurrying towards her with Lou, Peter, Jack, Tim, who was carrying Katie and Scott who'd met up with them in the car park.

"Georgie don't shout!" Tim said, stepping after Georgie and following her down the row, "hi sweetheart." He said, completely altering his tone as he greeted Amy.

"Peter, you go in, I want to sit on the end." Lou stood aside as Peter sat next to Jack who'd reluctantly sat next to Tim.

"Is Katie being a bit grumpy? Let Grandpa Tim have her eh?"

"It's so she can film and take pictures of when they do the hat thingy" Peter said, pretending to take a graduation hat and throw it into the air.

"I think they do that outside actually." Amy said looking around.

"Well I still want to film the ceremony. Peter, would you take Katie?" Lou asked, passing her husband their daughter.

"Come here Katie" Peter said, sitting the little girl on his lap.

Dressed in a little denim dress with colourful stripy tights and a little pink jumper, Katie looked adorable. Her curly black hair, exactly the same as Lou's, had been plaited at the front and clipped back with a little rainbow clip.

The family were interrupted by their bubbling conversation by the dipping of lights and music.

"Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen, I'd like to welcome you to this year's graduation. It's such an achievement for everyone sitting in a graduation gown to be here, and a pleasure I'm sure, for everyone celebrating with you, such as myself."

The ceremony steadily progressed, various lecturers were invited up to talk about the students, their future prospects and eventually the students were called up to receive their certificates.

"Now each year the university are able to award one student the chance to complete a three year placement in Arizona, working with the Mustang Protection committee, in fulfilling their task of identifying, protecting and caring for these beautiful animals." The professor smiled, "The University of Alberta would like to award this to Tyler Borden, for his commitment and academic performance throughout his time here."

As Ty walked across the stage, Amy could see the sheer enjoyment and pride written across his face. Amy felt an overwhelming feeling of pride as he accepted his degree and shake his professor's hand.

It was only when Ty disappeared behind the curtain, from sight, that Amy realised that this opportunity could change everything, and someone would have to compromise.

Amy ran in and out of the sea of graduation caps and gowns until she fell into Ty's arms, "Ty!" She collapsed into him, the smell of his aftershave swirled around her, Amy felt like she never wanted to let go. "I'm so proud of you" she said into his shoulder, disguising the tear which fell.

"I couldn't have done it without you" Ty said as Amy stepped back from him and smiled.


	3. Chapter 3

Standing at the side of the room, Amy watched Ty be greeted by his peers with countless hugs and words of congratulations.

She'd been stood watching him for some time now, noticing how happy Ty was. Part of her was so pleased for Ty, however, an element of her was still worried about the implications of this opportunity on her relationship.

"Excuse me, sorry" a woman gently touched Amy's shoulder as she cautiously edged past Amy. Wearing a coral dress, the woman stopped and stared at Amy's face before breaking into a smile. "Are you one of Jeff's graduates?"

The woman seemed to be in her mid-forties however, Amy had not seen her on the stage with the teaching staff, she assumed that 'Jeff' had been one of the professors.

Slowly Amy shook her head, looking down at her feet before meeting the woman's gaze. "My husband is." Amy gestured over to Ty and smiled.

"Ah, you're a bit like me then, I come to these events and don't have a clue what some people bang on about." The lady paused for a moment before holding out her manicured hand, "sorry I bet you have no idea who I am and I'm just harping on at you. I'm Pauline, Jeff's wife, the main professor?"

Amy smiled, "Amy Fleming", she said without missing a beat.

"Nice to meet you Amy."

Pauline and Amy started to really get into conversation. They ended up sitting at a table at the edge of the room, away from the bar where all the graduates seemed to be gathering.

"You know it really is an amazing opportunity for them" Pauline said after a few too many champagnes, "and it doesn't stop there, he'll be getting offers here, there and everywhere! You'll end up going and living in places you never dreamed of Amy!"

"Live?" Amy uttered, her fears of change resurfacing.

"We've been all over! I've honestly never ever seen Jeff so happy. I'd hate to have seen him stuck at the same practise day in day out. It'd be a huge waste of talent. You know now these people have had a taste of success, it never dies down. They'll constantly be trying to improve and impress. I'm so glad I was able to go with him, and not tie him down."

Amy's mind was overloaded and her mind began to tick over.

"Hey, you ready to head off?" A hand on Amy's shoulder startled her. She turned around and saw Ty smiling down at her.

"Sure, er, nice meeting you Pauline," Amy held out her hand and shook the older woman's.

"The best of luck to you both, you have no idea what a big adventure this could lead to."

Ty smiled and held on to Amy's hand as they left the after party.

Outside, the temperature had dropped even further. Their breaths were visible in the air and even more snow had seemed to fall. "Here" Ty put his jacket around Amy's shoulders as they trudged through the snow.

"Thank you" Amy said smiling.

"Did you enjoy tonight?" He asked, placing his arm around Amy.

"It was really nice, I'm so proud of you."

"Sorry I kept having to leave you, so many people kept coming over… Taking me to meet other people…"

Swallowing Amy smiled slightly and shook her head, "it's fine" she said quietly.

"Here we are" Ty pulled his truck's keys out of his pocket. Ty had had the same truck since he arrived at Heartland; it was a beautiful blue old Chevy truck. Amy loved it, despite the fact that the heater didn't work.

"Thank you" Amy said as Ty opened the truck door.

Reaching behind the seats, Ty passed Amy a blanket. He draped it over her, pulled her close and put his arm around her. "Warm?" He asked smiling,

Holding on to Ty's hand which was around her, "yeah" she replied smiling.

"You know, I'm kind of glad the heaters don't work."

Amy sat up and laughed, playfully punching Ty in the process before resuming her earlier position. "I love this truck."

"Just the truck, eh?"

Smiling in the dark, Amy chuckled softly. "I'm quite fond of you."

"Thanks" Ty chuckled; he leant forwards slightly and wiped the windscreen with his fingers "could you pass me the screen wipe?"

"Sure" Amy leant across to the glove compartment and saw Ty's graduation cap placed on the floor. The sinking feeling that had haunted her earlier reappeared and suddenly the blanket seemed too warm.

The extra snowfall meant that Ty and Amy's journey back was a bit longer than expected. They arrived back at Heartland in the dead of night.

Sitting on the bench in the porch, Amy teased her painful heels off her feet. She scrunched her feet with relief and walked across the kitchen barefooted.

The kitchen was lit by the warm glow of the fire in the front room. "Do you want me to lock the porch door?" Ty asked as he came into the house, carrying his graduation gown, cap and certificate. "Please." Amy replied, turning on a table lamp.

Remi wandered into the kitchen hearing the noise. Since the weather had gotten so cold, the dogs had taken to sleeping by the fire and Lobo was still conked out. Usually Lobo slept in Amy's room and Remi slept in Georgie's but the temptation of the fire was too much.

"Hey Remi" Amy gently stroked Remi's head as she put the kettle on. "Ty do you want a drink?" Amy asked as she heard the door lock.

"I think I'm going to bed Ams, I'm knackered." Ty said, leaning over and kissing Amy on the lips.

"Okay" Amy said, getting a glass out of the cupboard "I won't be long."

As the cool water filled the glass, Amy stared out the kitchen window at Heartland. She'd lived here all her life and never thought that she would move away.

After choking back the water, Amy desperately tried to cool herself down before heading upstairs. She tiptoed across the landing and up to her room.

Recently Georgie and Amy had swapped rooms, before Georgie lived in the loft bedroom. However, now Georgie's school work was getting more demanding Lou had wanted to get her a desk and have enough room to store her books, so Amy and Georgie had swapped. The loft suited Amy just fine, especially after Jack had put an ensuite up there.

After getting undressed, Amy got into bed quietly and laid beside Ty, who was already sound asleep. In his sleep, Ty wrapped an arm around Amy's waist.

That night, Amy had drifted in and out of sleep. Her thoughts riddled with the imminent choices that she and Ty would have to make.

Light streamed into the room the next morning and woke Amy up. "Ty?" Amy croaked, sitting up and realising that Ty wasn't sat next to her. She leaned across to the bedside table and saw that she'd slept in by two hours, "shit, morning feeds."

Quickly Amy got dressed and raced down the stairs and outside to the barn, grabbing her coat on her way. She crunched through the snow and saw that the horses had already been fed.

Spartan was happily munching away at his haynet as Amy entered, lifting his head slightly and nickering as Amy entered. "Hey" Amy said softly as she looked around for someone. She was pretty sure that Caleb wasn't meant to be working till later and she had definitely set her alarm.

"Sleep well?" Ty asked, coming out of the feeding room, holding all the horses' dirty feed buckets.

"Ty did you turn off the alarm this morning?" Amy asked, picking up the remaining feed buckets and carrying them outside to the water trough.

"You didn't sleep well last night; I thought you'd appreciate a sleep in. The doctor said that you had to make sure your kept rested and not worn out." Ty said following her outside.

The anger rose in Amy, she threw the feed buckets in the trough and turned the water on. "You don't decide when I need rest, I'm perfectly capable of deciding that myself."

Furiously Amy began to scrub at the feed buckets. "Amy" Ty sighed, "It's just because I care Ams."

"You need to treat me as an adult Ty, not a kid." Amy stacked the buckets on the shelf next to the trough to dry. She headed back into the barn to the tack room.

"Look" Ty said following her, "I'm sorry Amy."

Sitting down at the computer, Amy saw Ty's emails were open. The first open one was regarding Arizona. Silence descended between Ty and Amy as she read the email, it said that Ty would have to decide whether to take up the offer of the placement before the end of the week. "Yeah" Ty perched on the edge of the desk and looked at Amy "we need to talk about that."

"Want to go for a hack?" Amy asked, standing up and turning off the computer screen.


	4. Chapter 4

With his ears pricked, Spartan headed out happily into the snow. Amy had put an exercise rug on him, since his accident Amy was conscious that he'd lost a lot of condition and needed to gain a tiny bit more weight.

Harley bounded along beside him; the two horses had been together for a number of years and had formed a strong relationship. When Spartan had been recovering from his accident and as a consequence being ridden less, Harley had been noticeably quieter, Amy believed that he missed riding out with Spartan. They were like an old married couple.

Together, Amy and Ty rode alongside each other until they reached the clearing in the woods. This clearing was where Ty had made a jumping course just for Amy and Spartan to practise on, so long ago. Of course Spartan was not ready to be jumped again just yet but the clearing held so many memories for Ty and Amy, it felt right to be there at that moment in time.

Halting Spartan, Amy dismounted and tied him up. Ty followed, tying Harley alongside Spartan. Amy dusted off one of the logs and sat down, with Ty joining her.

"Amy" Ty began, staring down at his shoes.

"Listen, Ty, I know what you're going to say… That you'll stay here and that Scott's going to partner with you and that's just as good." Amy's eyes began to fill up with tears. "But it's not Ty, it's such an amazing opportunity…"

"I wasn't going to say that! Come with me Ams!"

"I can't leave here! It's part of me" Amy looked over at Spartan and Harley, "they're part of me! They rely on me."

Ty leant back and sighed, his hands moving over the grains in the wooden log. "I know" he said quietly.

"So go to Arizona Ty, you can make such a difference!" Amy said turning towards Ty and placing her hand on top of Ty's.

Turning towards Amy, with his other hand, Ty gently held Amy's face and kissed her, "I love you so much."

"Let's go and get something to eat, huh?" Ty said, resting his forehead on Amy's.

Moving between the tables, Lou distributed a small basket of two muffins to each group of customers, "there's little cards at the side, if you could rate the muffins that would be great."

Hanging her coat on the coat stand, Amy smiled and waved at Lou before taking a seat at a window table. Lou immediately drifted over and sat opposite Amy, "good night last night? You were up late this morning" she said smiling and pushing a basket of muffins towards Amy.

"Yeah" Amy said smiling and remembering earlier that day with Ty, "still trying to push the muffins?" She said looking around at the basket.

Lou smiled, "just shut up and eat" she said pushing the basket towards Amy. "What's the deal about Arizona then?"

Amy burst into laughter at Lou's lack of tact and took a muffin from the basket. She began to pick at the polka-dot case it sat in before taking a bite. "Oh god," Amy screwed up her face and spat the mouthful into her serviette. "Lou, what is with those muffins you keep giving me?"

Picking up the discarded muffin, Lou smelt it "it's a cinnamon one" she bit a small part "I think they're nice!"

The door of the diner opened and let the cold wintery air in. Ty hung his coat and began to brush the snow out of his hair before walking over to Lou and Amy. "Hey!"

"Taste this, is this disgusting?" Lou asked, passing Ty a bit of the muffin.

Sitting across from Amy, Ty tasted the muffin, shaking his head. "No, I love cinnamon."

Lou looked at Amy and raised her eyebrows. "Told you!" She stacked the empty baskets of muffins and stood up. "I'll get Nicole to bring you guys some coffee over. Remember dinner tonight too. I think everyone's coming."

Scooting his chair closer to the table, Ty smiled at Amy, "I just spoke to Uni."

"What did they say?"

Taking a deep breath, Ty allowed the smile to resurface on his face, "I'm going out there in a few weeks."

"Really?" Amy managed to disguise her surprise.


	5. Chapter 5

Standing on the side of the lunge ring, Amy laid her head in her arms and watched Theo.

Usually a horse that had experienced a trauma or drama recently, their behaviour would reflect this. Amy had expected this from Theo, however, today he seemed to be in the same absent state as per usual.

"Thinking about something?" Caleb climbed up alongside Amy and watched Theo with her.

Titling her head, Amy turned and smiled at Caleb. "Just Theo, I'd expect him to at least a bit shaken up after yesterday."

In silence, Amy and Caleb watched Theo for a moment. He kept moving about the round pen but, Amy noticed how he constantly kept looking in one certain direction.

"I might take him for another ride." She said, turning her head back towards Caleb.

"I'd come with you but I've got to help your dad and Ty, High River's barn's completely snowed in, he wants us to clear the yard. The cattle are stuck near the barn, luckily it means its easy to give them hay."

"Are you guys coming back for dinner?" She said jumping down from the round pen.

"I'll try but I don't want to be heading back home late." Caleb asked walking back over to the tack room. "Will you be okay with him riding out alone?"

"I'll be fine" Amy said smiling and grabbing Theo's saddle.

"Right, see you later Ams."

Theo's detached attitude continued as Amy groomed and tacked him up. Keeping in mind the last time Amy rode Theo he bolted and she fell off, Amy made sure she wore her helmet and body protector.

"Come on then" Amy mounted Theo and nudged him on. Immediately, Theo adopted an energetic walk with his ears pricked. As an experiment Amy dropped her contact on the reins and let Theo take Amy where he wanted.

The dapple grey wandered down the side of the trails and towards High River. Amy could feel Theo's contact on the bit, literally driving himself forwards to wherever he wanted to go. Amy was sure that the horse hadn't been around that area before, but she was conscious of the fact that he kept sniffing as he walked, indicating he wanted to go somewhere.

Leaning back in the saddle, Amy kept encouraging Theo forwards until they reached High River's land, marked by a gate.

Tim, Amy and Lou's father, lived on the ranch next door and owned a group of cattle with Jack. Since Tim had come back to Hudson, he'd established a good cattle business with Jack.

Luckily, Amy knew the code to open the gate. Without Amy's assistance, Theo lined himself up at the gate and allowed Amy to enter the code.

Slowly, the gates opened and Theo squeezed through them as soon as possible. The grey gelding broke into a trot as they moved across the snow covered land. In the distance, Amy saw Tim and Jack's cattle, grazing. Slowly Theo's ears pricked up and the grey slowed back into a walk, eagerly he walked towards the cattle before stopping.

Standing on a mound, Theo watched the cattle. Amy felt his entire body relax. Reacting from the slightest twitch from Amy's heels, Theo burst into life. Theo altered his walk as he got closer to the cattle, making sure that he wouldn't spook them. "You're a ranch horse." Amy whispered as Theo easily moved in and out of the cattle.

After spending a good thirty minutes with the cattle, Amy and Theo rode back to Heartland. The difference in Theo was phenomenal; he was incredibly responsive and engaging with Amy. It occurred to Amy that Theo had simply been wanting to do what he'd done all his life, ranching.


	6. Chapter 6

Standing the shovel in the pile of snow, Ty sighed and looked at Caleb. "Finally" together, they'd cleared the entrances to Tim's barn, cattle sheds and paddocks, without Tim's help.

"Are you coming to Lou's mate?" Ty asked, picking up his coat from a snow pile.

Caleb shook his head and pulled on his coat, "nah, I've got to get going" he looked up and the heavy sky and sighed, "I'm pretty sure it's going to snow again. You'll have to grab a lift with Tim."

Ty rolled his eyes, "fantastic!" Ty hadn't always gotten along with his father-in-law. In the past Tim had openly questioned Ty about his suitability and worthiness for Amy, which in Ty's eyes was quite hypocritical after what happened between Tim and Marion.

Just recently, Ty had felt that Tim was slowly coming to terms with him and Amy being together. However, Ty was still unnerved by the fact that Tim maintained a reluctance towards him, despite their marriage.

"Are you going to tell him about Arizona?" Caleb asked, as he fished around his pocket looking for the keys to his truck.

Exhaling, Ty stared at Caleb. "I'm going to have to aren't I?"

Clicking his truck open Caleb turned and nodded at Ty, "he'll respect you for it mate, being up front. Your adults now, married adults!" He said shoving Ty's arm, "not two kids messing on in a loft!"

"True" Ty said folding his arms, "anyway, I'll see you later."

"Hey Tim" Ty knocked on the door of the ranch house and entered. Standing squarely on the door mat, Ty saw all of Tim's buckles and trophies presented proudly on the wall above the roaring fireplace. On the wall to the left of the fire place, were a number of photographs. Ty craned his neck and looked at them.

All his children were there, Lou, Amy and Shane, along with Katie riding Pogi. Just below them in the centre was a photo of Marion and the girls, Tim wasn't there.

"Ty," the growl of Tim's voice made Ty jump back to the door mat.

"Er, Caleb's gone home so could I grab a lift with you to Heartland?"

"Sure" Tim grabbed his hat and car keys off the table and gestured to the door. "Go on then."

"Didn't take you guys long to clear the yard eh?" Tim said kicking the edges of the piles of snow.

"Felt long" Ty said getting into the truck.

The truck burst into action and silence overtook the truck. Ty was hesitant to bring up Arizona, when Tim brought it up instead. "So Ty, what's happening about Arizona?"

"I was going to bring this up." Ty said preparing himself. "Amy and I talked; we've decided that I'm going to go to Arizona alone."

"Well I'm really sorry about that Ty, I mean; I can't not say that I never saw this coming" Tim said, smugly.

"Sorry?" Ty turned and looked at Tim, "we're not splitting."

"What?" Tim raised his voice and skidded the truck into a layby.

"Tim!" Ty shouted, gripping the handle on the truck door.

"You can't expect her to put her life on hold for you Ty" Tim said breathlessly. "It's not fair."

"But we agreed…" Ty tried to counteract.

"You may have agreed that Ty, but it doesn't work. Trust me, Marion and I tried it and look where it got us. I turned into an addict, lost my children and the love of my life. Marion got depression Ty, because she compromised her life for mine."

"But we're not like you and Marion" Ty said in a lower tone, trying to combat the crushing feeling that had overwhelmed him since Tim had pointed out issues that had been lurking in the back of Ty's mind.

"We weren't like that at the start. Look Ty, I get that we haven't had the smoothest relationship but, like me you love and respect my daughter. This scenario simply isn't fair for either of you."

"So I'll stay here, with her."

Tim shook his head, "as much as I hate to say it kid, you've got a talent that could really have a positive impact. It will kill you to ignore it, trust me."

"We're different to you and Marion though Tim! For one thing there are no kids involved!"

The heavy silence resumed for the remainder of the journey. Ty sat in the passenger seat and stared out of the window at the Alberta Mountains. He'd never felt at such conflict about someone he loved so deeply.

"Just think about what I said Ty," Tim said as he opened the door to the Bartlett/Fleming/Morris farm house.

Lou was bustling around the kitchen happily, with Jack laying the table. Georgie was sat in the sitting room playing Lego with Katie whilst Peter was reading the newspaper by the fire. "Hi everyone" Tim took off his cowboy hat and adopted his happy persona immediately, which astounded Ty.

"Grandpa Tim!" Katie got up and ran towards Tim, who lifted her up into his arms.

"Hello Katie-pops!"

Ty skirted around Tim and headed straight for Lou, "Lou, where's Amy?" He said quietly.

"She popped into town to get something" Lou replied not looking up from the stove. "Just to the pharmacy thought, she should be back soon though" Lou looked up and saw that Ty had gone, "Ty?"

"What's wrong with him?" Jack asked, standing next to Lou and pouring himself a mug of coffee.

"He was looking for Amy; he didn't look too good did he? Maybe they've both gotten sick."


	7. Chapter 7

Sitting on the veranda of the farm house, Ty stared at Heartland. Everything reminded him of something or someone, mostly Amy.

"There you go" Tim came outside and thrust a mug of coffee at Ty who looked up in confusion.

"Thanks" he said quietly, frowning at Tim.

"Lou wanted me to give you these." Ty stood at the edge of the bench. "I'm not going to apologise Ty."

Smirking, "I didn't expect you to" Ty replied quietly under his breath so Tim wouldn't hear.

"Neither of you can compromise Ty, it will ruin you both. And I won't let you do that to my daughter." Tim threw a blanket at Ty and went back into the house.

Ty sat outside for what seemed an eternity until headlights began to navigate down Heartland's curvy driveway. Anticipation knotted up in the middle of Ty's stomach.

Pulling up in the truck, Amy parked in front of Tim's truck and saw Ty sitting on the veranda without a coat. "Hey, you okay?" Amy asked, sitting down next to Ty.

"Yeah, I'm fine" Ty said smiling at Amy, "just felt a bit sick."

"Are you coming inside? It looks like teas done? Food might make you feel better." Amy held her hand out and Ty took it.

"Yeah" Ty said smiling.

"Georgie eat some salad please." Peter said, passing Georgie the salad bowl.

"I'm eating tomatoes though, they're vegetables." Georgie complained.

"You need more than one Georgie, you know that." Peter said, spooning salad onto her plate despite Georgie's protests indicated by her frown.

"So Amy did you figure out something with Theo?" Jack asked, not noticing that Tim kept glancing at Ty and vice versa.

With her mouth full of pasta Amy nodded and swallowed. "Yeah, he took me up to see the cattle and he'd totally changed. I think he was a ranch horse you know and just wanted to see the cattle."

"He just wanted to do what he loved." Tim said looking up, staring at Ty for a moment before smiling at Amy. Only Lou noticed.

"You know, now you mention it Amy, I remember there being a small ranch just near Roseberry Well." Jack said, oblivious to the looks being exchanged between Tim and Ty. "That's where the owner is isn't she?"

"Yeah, I think I'm going to look in to it tomorrow."

"Katie! Did you manage to eat anything?" Lou turned and looked at her daughter, who was looking incredibly pleased with herself as she was covered in tomato sauce.

"I no mean to!" The little girl replied, before giggling at Georgie.

"Come on, let's get you bathed." Peter said, getting up and picking Katie up from her chair.

"Georgie come too!"

"Can I go Lou?" Georgie asked, thrusting her empty plate towards her.

"Go on then, take your plate to the kitchen first though."

General chitchat resumed at the dinner table, although Lou was aware that Tim kept throwing slight digs towards Ty. Lou knew that Amy wasn't aware of this because she'd immediately call her father out on this and she knew that would be detrimental to their relationship.

"Right I'm going to head off. Could you move Amy's truck to let me out Ty please?" Tim asked, holding a stare with Ty.

"Uh sure okay" Ty looked up at Tim nervously. Amy meanwhile was busily gathering the dishes with Jack.

Outside, the temperature had dropped even lower. Ty was expecting a talk off Tim but he simply waved his goodbyes and got into his truck.

"Bloody hell Ams" Ty said getting into Amy's truck and moving the seat backwards. Ty was sure something fell on his foot but, Tim began to rev his engine. "God Tim."

Ty shoved the old gear stick into reverse and over took Tim, parking her truck next to his. Amy had bought the old truck last year, it was the same make as Jack's but green and blue. Ty sat and watched Tim drive out of Heartland and waited till his headlights had disappeared. He breathed a sigh of relief and opened the truck door, turning on the car light. Laid on the floor of the truck was a brown paper bag. Ty picked it up and set it on the seat, when a pregnancy test dropped out of it.

His heart began to beat so loudly, as Ty put the bag back onto the floor and left the truck.

"Amy's gone upstairs Ty" Jack said as Ty came back into the house.

Putting Amy's car keys into the key bowl that sat on the kitchen window sill, Ty went to head upstairs, "thanks, night Jack."

Walking up the two flights of stairs, Ty passed Katie's room and heard Lou reading her daughter a story. His earlier conversation with Tim rung in his ears, Ty's back up for allowing Amy to wait for him was that there were no children involved… and now there were. He felt crippled.

On the landing Ty saw various boxes and objects scattered around. Together they'd put a deposit down on a small ranch called Teal Creek, it was within walking distance of Heartland and it was stunning. He knew that if he went off to Arizona, Amy would have to deal with all that on her own.

Opening the door, Ty saw Amy already curled up in bed. Seeing her there confirmed his decision. Slipping off his shoes, Ty padded across to the bed and laid on top of the sheets. He turned and watched his wife sleep, knowing in the morning he wouldn't be there to watch her wake up.


	8. Chapter 8

_**Three years later**_

Heidi, a beautiful piebald mare stood at the side of the round pen and stared at Amy with her ears pricked, looking at Amy then sniffing the ground.

Walking towards Heidi, Amy gently tossed the lunge whip towards the mare's hind legs.

Radiating confusion, Heidi threw herself into a working trot, extending her legs beautifully. The mare was a successful show jumper, competing in all the local shows with the hope of reaching national ones. Her owner had brought her to Amy because Heidi was terrified of the farrier.

The mare was fine with anyone picking her feet out, touching them and lifting them up but, as soon as the farrier came, Heidi was literally unapproachable and dangerous. Despite being sedated, Heidi had managed to cut her head and made herself lame when the farrier had tried to get near the mare.

After having to change farriers for the third time in six months, her owner, Emily, had brought Heidi to Amy, in the hope that the mare would be able to cope with getting her feet done, rather than hurting herself and having to be sedated in the process.

After the mare had completed a couple of circuits on each rein in trot, Amy flicked the lunge whip again, causing the mare to speed up. Throwing her ears back the mare kept driving herself forwards, losing the ambition to please Amy and simply giving into her natural instinct.

It only took a couple more circuits for Heidi to show the signs of wanting to join up: turning her ear inwards towards Amy, looking at her and making a chewing motion. Dropping her lunge crop, Amy stood in the centre of the round pen, dropped her shoulders and turned her back to Heidi. Immediately the paint mare came straight over to Amy. "Clever girl" she said turning around and stroking Heidi's nose.

Slipping a head collar onto Heidi, Amy fashioned a bridle and vaulted onto her. The mare stood at 14.2hh which compared to Spartan's 17hh was tiny however, you immediately got the sense that Heidi could move speedily. Sitting back, deep into her seat Amy relaxed and let the horse walk around the round pen at a leisurely pace.

Whilst Heidi cooled down, Amy just looked around the beautiful place she called home. The summer evening sky was a blending of ruby reds, blush oranges, hazy purples, canary yellows and powdery blues.

The grass was lush and blooming. Amy had planted flowers and herbs that her mother had included within her journal within the summer pastures. In the majority of cases, the horses knew what they needed and this provided them with the opportunity to select their own herbal remedy. Amy still administered herbs and flowers in their feeds from the plants she grew separately.

Once Heidi was cooled down, Amy led the mare over to the hose pipe and began to cool her down with the water when Ty's truck parked up in the yard.

Turning off the hose pipe, Amy patted Heidi on the shoulder before walking out into the yard.

"Hey!" Amy waved at Ty who was carrying their son, Noah. Once Ty had set Noah on the floor, the little boy ran towards Amy.

Noah was the absolute image of Ty, with brown hair and bright green eyes.

"I made a sandcastle!" Noah said as Amy picked up the toddler.

"Did you?!" Amy asked smiling.

Noah nodded before Amy put Noah back down. Immediately, the little boy headed for Heidi. "Remember Noah, hold out your hand." Ty said following the little boy to the mare.

The little boy held up his hand and the mare bent down to sniff it. "Step back" Ty placed his hand on Noah's shoulder and gently ushered him backwards.

The mare stepped forwards after the little boy. Ty looked up at Amy and smiled.

Since he'd been big enough to go out to the barn, Noah had been around horses. Amy and Ty were conscious of the fact that the barn was a dangerous place but, they wanted Noah to grow up here, like Amy had.

Heidi bent down and brushed her muzzle across Noah's brown hair. The little boy giggled and stepped towards Ty. "Come on then, are you going to go and see Grandpa Jack?" Ty asked the little boy, holding out his hand.

Glancing back, Noah stared at Amy.

"I'll be in soon Noah, just let me cool Heidi down" she said smiling and picking the hose pipe back up.

Whilst hosing Heidi down, Amy watched Ty walk across the yard with Noah.

Despite her issues with Ty, Amy had always been sure that she'd wanted him to have a big role in Noah's life. When Ty left, Amy had just found that she was expecting Noah.

It took a long time for Amy to even contact Ty and tell him about their child, however, with help and support from her family, Amy managed to contact Ty in Arizona.

Ty promised that he would support Amy as much as possible, Amy was unsure whether he'd keep to his promise.

However, all the way through the pregnancy Ty flew home from Arizona as much as possible. When Noah was born, Ty did the same thing. A fraction of Amy wanted Ty to move back to Hudson, to stay with her and Noah all the time. She felt safe and complete when Ty was with them, despite things not being like before.

However, Ty remained in Arizona and completed his internship last year. He'd just moved back and was now looking for somewhere to live. At the moment, he was back at Caleb's trailer, so he spent the majority of time with Noah at Heartland.

Once Amy had hosed Heidi down and turned her out with the other horses, she headed over to the farm house. Ty was sat on the veranda watching Noah and Katie play together in the garden.

Jack had made them a little set of swings, a slide and monkey bars, which the pair loved to play on. They loved to leap from equipment to equipment, not touching the floor. When Lou was watching over them, she couldn't look and discouraged them as much as possible playing it. The pair of them were daredevils.

Amy sat down next to Ty on the steps of the veranda. He turned and smiled "hey."

"He's so fast isn't he?" Amy said watching Noah race across the garden.

"I know, his teachers are a bit worried about his attention span, apparently they're struggling to get him to sit down and do school work rather than play."

For the first time, Amy looked at Ty and spoke directly to him, "We could speak to him? I don't know… He's only in nursery."

"I know but, I just don't want it to become a habit." Ty said, referring to his own childhood where he struggled to cope in a school environment and eventually led to his problems with the law.

"Yeah… Well we'll talk to him. I mean, Noah's going to afternoon slots so I'll be able to bring him out on the yard with me on the morning and try to wear him out a bit."

"I can get Scott to give me a couple of mornings off if you want to do alternative days." Ty said smiling.

"You don't have to…" Amy said.

Ty rested his hand on top of Amy's, "I want to! He's my son."

Pulling back her hand, Amy moved her gaze back to the children playing, "thank you… Erm, I'm going to check if Lou needs any help with dinner."

"Georgie, what are you doing? You're meant to be revising!" Lou stood over her daughter and watched the laptop's screen, which was currently on YouTube playing videos of trick riders.

"I've done like, fifteen minutes though!" Georgie complained, clicking off the video.

Lou rolled her eyes, "come on Georgie! If you don't do this now you might have to miss trick riding."

"Do you want any help with dinner?" Amy asked coming into the kitchen looking rather flustered.

"No it's okay" Lou said keeping her back to Amy.

"You okay Amy?" Georgie was old enough to understand the situation between Ty and Amy. At sixteen Georgie could remember Ty and Amy together, then when Ty left and returned. She saw the hurt that Amy had felt. As Georgie had gotten older she had started to become a little sister to Amy rather than a niece.

Lou turned around and saw Amy standing at the sink looking rather flushed. Drying her hands, Lou went and rested a hand on Amy's arm. "What's happened?"

"It's just stupid, I'm fine. I just needed to get away." Amy said looking down at her shoes.

"Georgie, could you go and tell Peter dinner's nearly done?" Lou asked, telling her indirectly that she needed to speak to Amy alone.

"But?" Georgie stood up and hesitated. She felt like she was old enough to stay and listen to this.

"Georgie, please." Lou said firmly, immediately Georgie closed her laptop and gathered her papers.

Letting go of the sink, Amy shook her head. "No it's fine, I'm just going to head back over to the barn, I won't be two minutes."

"Amy" Lou shouted as Amy flittered out of the house.

Once she'd reached the barn, Amy headed up to the loft and sat in the window, her legs dangling. Her heart was a conflict of feelings and she hated it.

Sitting in the loft allowed Amy to just empty her mind. It was a relief to not think about anything. She sat there for a good five minutes before hearing footsteps.

Silently, Ty sat next to Amy, dangling his legs just like her. "Ty, please don't" Amy quietly protested and shuffled to get up.

In response, Ty placed his hand on top of Amy's, making her jump as if she was experiencing an electric shock. Staring at her face, Ty noticed that she'd been crying. "Have I upset you?"

Turning her head, Amy remained silent. "Ams, look at me, please… Please."

Running her hands through her hair, Amy looked at Ty, staring into his emerald eyes for the first time in years. "I…"

Slowly shaking her head Amy put a finger on his lips.

Reaching out, Ty ran his hands through her hair and wiped a tear away with his thumb.

Ty leant in towards Amy and kissed her gently on the mouth. Shutting her eyes instantly, taking a deep breath in, Amy kissed Ty back. The pair began to move away from the edge of the loft window, Ty began to push Amy's t-shirt over her shoulder when Amy froze.

"What's wrong?" Ty asked as Amy stopped his hand by placing her hand on his.

"I can't do this again Ty, I can't..." Scrambling to her feet, she darted for the stairs.

"Please Amy…"


End file.
